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This will have a very big impact on our passing defense. Porter has a ton of responsibility on our D, which is part of the reason his stats suffer...he drops back into coverage, plays a lot of contain, etc, etc...with him out, and the secondary thin, it changes the whole complexion of our defensive strategy.

Stats aren't everything. You just don't replace a guy who knows every intricacy of perhaps the most complicated defense in the NFL with an inexperienced guy who never plays, or a guy who's best years are far behind him. But don't take my word for it, read this...

Like every linebacker, Porter disguises his blitzes, sometimes lining up as if he is going to blitz and then dropping into coverage, other times acting like he plans to cover a receiver and then rushing the quarterback. But what makes Porter unique is the extent to which he conceals his plans. On the first play of Denver’s second drive, Porter lined up at outside linebacker, faked a blitz by taking four steps into the Broncos’ backfield, then turned around and ran back into coverage in the flat. Porter didn’t have any impact on that play, but that was just the opening gambit in a chess match that he ultimately won against the Broncos’ offense.

But he knows that those are the types of plays that get linebackers burned for long gains when the quarterback fakes the handoff and rolls to the outside, so he stayed at home on the play, ready to make the tackle if Plummer had kept the ball on a bootleg or handed it off on an end-around. He’s a very disciplined player.